Missing In Action
by Gyarl
Summary: When Whip goes missing, what will K' do?
1. Default Chapter

Before you go any further, bewarned that the following involves graphic violence. If that offends you, do not read this.  
  
And for anyone who thinks I'm a (selective)sadist and I'm just looking for an excuse to hurt poor Whip, I'm not. Whip isn't the only one who's going to get beaten up. Here, everyone takes a bashing. 


	2. The First Note

That night, K' returned home late, staring at a piece of paper held tightly his gauntleted hand. In fact, he was so distracted that he did not even notice the visitor sitting in his armchair.  
  
"Bad day, Dash?" Angel asked.  
  
K' stared at her in bewilderment, then sank down into another chair, still tightly gripping the piece of paper.  
  
Angel pouted, doing a handstand.  
  
"Don't do that please, Dash. It's very annoying. You didn't even say hi. Come on."  
  
"Not now, Angel. Something's cropped up."  
  
"Something more important than me?"  
  
"No. something more worrying."  
  
Angel sneaked up behind him, and then peered over his shoulder. It was a message, and was simply written in a neat hand.  
  
'IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHIP AGAIN, FIND THE NEXT CLUE AND FOLLOW THE TRAIL'  
  
K' sighed, and buried his face in his hands. Angel, however, scooped up the note and sniffed it. Then she straightened and uttered a single word: "Pork."  
  
*  
  
K' opened the door, and let the Bogards in. Now, Angel, Kyo, Kasumi, Maxima, Andy and Terry Bogard were all seated around his table.  
  
He closed the door again, and took a seat. They all knew about the note. Now they had to decide what to do about it.  
  
Angel was the first to speak. "Perhaps NESTS has something to do with this. I suggest we try to look for the next clue first."  
  
"Speaking of NESTS," Kyo interrupted, "Why should we trust you?"  
  
Terry Bogard nodded his agreement. "Tell us!"  
  
Angel suddenly shrank back, afraid. Meanwhile, the others were in uproar. Maxima and Terry were arguing with Andy and Kasumi about Angel's trustworthiness. Kyo sat, disgruntled, with Kasumi's restraining hand on his arm.  
  
Angel covered her ears, trying to block the harsh words out. She smiled bravely at K', trying to prove that she was fine. But the truth was, the harsh words were hurting her.  
  
Finally, she could stand it no more. She kicked her chair away, and ran, tears trickling down her face. And she had only been trying to help! Of all the ungrateful idiots in the world.  
  
Angel collapsed into a heap, weeping openly. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was K'. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"This isn't like you."  
  
She sobbed even harder and fell against him. K' couldn't understand it. Here she was, crying as if the world had ended, while half an hour ago she had been trying to climb the stairs on her head. But there was nothing for it.  
  
"All I wanted was to help. I really did, Dash. I gave up on NESTS long ago."  
  
The other five ran in, and stopped. Kyo looked shamefaced, and Maxima tried to apologise. Terry Bogard couldn't speak, because Andy was standing on his head. Kasumi simply waited for it to pass. 


	3. The Second Clue

Whip was seated on a chair. She could hardly remember what daylight looked like, or what food tasted like - even honey.  
  
She was blindfolded and her hands were tied behind her back, but she was not gagged. Whip didn't bother to scream for help. If she wasn't gagged, it meant that no-one could hear her. She simply had to wait for what would come.  
  
Footsteps stopped outside the door of the small room she was in, and the door opened. Then a fist was driven forcefully into her stomach. Whip gasped in pain, trying to catch her breath. Again, the fist slammed into her, and this time she could not help crying out in agony.  
  
The torturer hit her again and again, each blow like a sledgehammer, until she collapsed forward out of the chair, onto her knees, and then slumped forward to vomit a pool of blood. Then she was kicked hard, and someone laughed mockingly.  
  
*  
  
"The first thing we should do is check out Chang and Choi. They were criminals before, it could be them again." Terry concluded.  
  
"And it just so happens that Kim told me where to find them the other day." Kasumi said. "He wanted me to deliver something to them."  
  
"Then we have an excuse to go," Kyo said triumphantly. "Ace."  
  
"Huh?" Chang looked bewildered. "Go ahead and search, but I doubt you'd have any luck finding her here - me and Choi haven't been doing anything like that."  
  
Choi sneered his agreement. "Search, but don't find."  
  
Kyo and Kasumi returned unsuccessful. K' sighed.  
  
"We aren't going anywhere with this," he said. "We need that second clue now."  
  
At this, Jhun Hoon stepped out of the shadows and tapped him on the shoulder, passing him a small piece of paper.  
  
He read it aloud. "THE SECOND CLUE. JOURNEY TO WHERE THE SUN SHINES ALL THE TIME TO RETRIEVE THE THIRD CLUE. " He slammed his fist into the table, splintering it. "Damn it!"  
  
"Where did you find this, Jhun?" Andy Bogard asked suspiciously.  
  
Jhun shrugged. "Came to me," he said. "Found."  
  
"I know where the sun shines all the time," Maxima growled. "It's the arctic."  
  
"Arctic?" Angel asked suddenly. "Kula lives in the Arctic. You don't think she did it, do you?"  
  
K' smashed his fist into the table, this time cracking it. "Don't forget that she is a weapon too."  
  
"Wait a minute, Jhun." Kyo began. "How did you get in?" But Jhun was nowhere in sight.  
  
*  
  
Kula's house didn't have a doorknob on its door. It didn't need too. Andy Bogard pulled it open and tumbled in before the incoming blizzard slammed it shut again. Then the door opened and Terry too was blown in.  
  
Kula looked with some interest at the heap lying on her doorstep, and put the book she was reading down. "Yes?" she asked. "What brings you here?"  
  
"The wind?" Terry suggested sarcastically. "No, we're here for the third clue."  
  
Kula wrinkled her brow. "Clue?"  
  
Andy scratched his head. "You don't have anything to do with the fact that Whip's missing?"  
  
"She is? Now quickly, tell me what happened." 


	4. Hope in the Darkness

By now, Whip's hands had been untied, but she could not take her blindfold off. The light hurt too much. It had been almost a week, and she was faint from hunger and thirst, the discomfort fogging up her mind.  
  
Tears silently rolled down her face again. What did they want from her? And why had no-one come to help her? She had to wait, and every second was like an hour.  
  
The door opened again, and she shrank back from it, fearing. Then the fist slammed into her, and she was once again left lying on the ground, puking up her own blood, the pain too much to bear. But the punishment did not stop there.  
  
She was slammed into a wall, and with a crack, her right arm was methodically broken. Whip screamed in pure agony. Then her entire body was kicked viciously and a knife was stabbed into her side.  
  
The door slammed shut. Bleeding and crying, Whip slowly crawled to the side of the room and propped herself against the wall, every step driving searing pain through her.  
  
To her surprise, the door opened yet again. A tray of food was set on the ground, and the door closed again.  
  
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. It was a hand she knew well - consisting entirely of steel plates.  
  
The voice of K'Dash whispered into her ear: "I'm coming." Then his presence was gone, leaving her alone in the dark, which seemed to have become twice as threatening. 


	5. Betrayal and the Third Message

Just then, Kula's door buckled. Again and again. It cracked, and when she finally opened it, a small slip of paper flew in. Terry Bogard retrieved his hat, and read: 'TIME IS RUNNING SHORT. BRING $100000 TO THE HARBOUR IN FIVE DAYS TIME IF WHIP IS TO LIVE.' Andy grinned. "So, what do we do now?"  
  
"All three notes smelled of pork," Angel stated. "And who do we know who spends all of his time with his face in a pork bun?"  
  
"Sie Kensou?"  
  
Kasumi sighed. "Here we go again," she said. "Off we go." K' stood, but Kyo pulled him back into the chair.  
  
"No, you don't!" he said. "You're not getting out. I'm not you slaughtering everyone. You're staying."  
  
*  
  
Angel and Maxima knocked on the door, and Athena answered it.  
  
"Yes?" she asked, looking slightly annoyed. "Was there something you wanted? Or were you just doing that to annoy?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just. there have been so many knocks at the door lately, and Kensou and I were in the middle of something. Come in, come in." She allowed them to enter and closed the door.  
  
Kensou appeared, a pork bun stuffed into his mouth, making his cheeks bulge out. "Mmmf?" he questioned. In a flash, Angel had him pinned to the wall. "What have you done with Whip?" she demanded.  
  
Kensou raised a trembling finger to point behind her.  
  
Angel turned to see Maxima strangling Athena, who was gasping for breath desperately. "Cut it out, Maxima!" she called. But he raised his head and glared at her with hate filled eyes.  
  
Kensou rushed forward and was slammed headfirst into a wall. Maxima released Athena, who immediately collapsed, and drove a fist at Angel, knocking her senseless. 


	6. Dissension

K' slammed a fist against the wall, now becoming an increasingly used gesture for him. "They've been gone long. Too long." He stated.  
  
"Angel must have set a trap," Terry stated. "I never trusted her."  
  
"She wouldn't do that," Kasumi objected. "Why would she?"  
  
They started arguing heatedly again. No-one noticed K' begin to growl. No- one noticed his face get blacker.  
  
"SILENCE!"  
  
Everyone stared at K'. His gauntleted hand was glowing red hot. No-one breathed. They didn't want to die yet.  
  
"This isn't helping. We'll just bring the money. Now."  
  
"But how?"  
  
"How? We'll just pool our resources. NOW!"  
  
*  
  
Angel awoke to find herself blindfolded, her hands tied behind her back. She tried to stand, and fell back to the ground again. Doubtlessly that punch had put her out of action.  
  
That punch! Maxima would pay for it.  
  
Kensou's voice groaned in the darkness. So did another voice, one she hadn't heard in a long time.  
  
"If you're awake, tell me who you are, please."  
  
"Whip?"  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"Damn it. is Athena there?"  
  
"I think it's her. What can we do?"  
  
Angel grunted. "We wait, and hope for a miracle. Which, I believe, is on it's way. They're all coming - K'Dash, Kyo Kusanagi, Kasumi Todo, Terry Bogard and Andy Bogard. And maybe even Kula. Don't lose hope, Whip."  
  
"I won't. Now, let's wake these two up." 


	7. Reaping Violence

A hand beckoned from the shadows of the old warehouse.  
  
"Have you got the money?" A Kyo clone asked, stepping out of the shadows. "Show us." A second demanded.  
  
K' nodded, and handed them the suitcase. Then thirteen more clones slid out of the darkness, getting into battle stances. Benimaru's voice rang out mockingly. "Time to die!"  
  
At that, Kyo, Kasumi, The Bogards and their girlfriends jumped out, and the battle began. Leona and Benimaru leapt out, and fought fiercely alongside the clones.  
  
But K' knew the real battle was somewhere else. He somersaulted up and grabbed hold of a rusty iron banister, and swung himself up. He slammed open a door, and saw Whip, blindfolded along with Kensou, Athena and Angel. He quickly untied them, but Whip declined to be blindfolded.  
  
"The light hurts my eyes," she explained.  
  
But no sooner had he stepped out than five more Kyo clones appeared. K' struck the first one with a claw bytes, ripping his jaw off. Athena and Kensou were taking on another, and the fifth Kyo clone was hitting the other clones from behind. It was the real Kyo!  
  
Then King's foot left a mark on the wall where K' had been a second ago. K' tried to attack, but it was obvious that they were evenly matched. And his companions were busy with the four clones.  
  
Whip was a dead weight on Angel's shoulders, and Kensou was knocked out. Athena and Kyo were the only ones still up and fighting.  
  
Things were going badly. Below, Maxima had appeared and smashed a fist into Terry's face. Andy was down, blood trickling from his nose. Kasumi was bleeding from more than a dozen wounds. Mai was trying to protect Andy, and Mary was having trouble with Leona and Benimaru both attacking her. They needed a miracle.  
  
K' yelled in a sudden burst of anger and swiped out wildly, making King lose her balance. It was enough. He threw king off the corridor, over the banister and down onto Benimaru.  
  
Then, a miracle happened. With a deafening cry, Iori Yagami burst in, smashing his way through the Kyo clones with a hatred usually reserved for Kyo himself.  
  
K' received a punch in the back, a reminder that the battle was not over. Kyo had smashed his fist into one of the clone's foreheads, and the man's brains were leaking out his ears. Athena had revived Kensou, and together they had two clones trapped against the wall. The fourth was advancing on Angel and Whip, trying to push his broken jaw back into place. Then, Whip suddenly lifted her head, and smiled. She flung out a hand, and Uddodue was wrapped around the clone's neck, cutting of his breathing.  
  
With the addition of Iori Yagami to the fray, the battle had immediately started looking up, but it was not without price. Mai was weeping, as she clutched Andy's lifeless body to her. Kensou had to be hospitalised for head injuries and concussion. Kyo had a livid cut on his face, and Mary's leg had been broken and Terry's fist had been smashed. Even Kasumi had been badly beaten.  
  
K' looked at the wreck of the warehouse, and Iori carrying Leona away. Most wounds would heal eventually. He sighed, and slung one of Whip's arms around his shoulders to support her.  
  
"Let's go home," she said, smiling. The hardship was over. 


	8. Battle Scars

But it wasn't. The next day, Mary called up to inform them that Mai Shiranui was missing. They reported that she was missing, as they had received no message.  
  
Mai was found washed up on the beach. She had thrown herself into the sea to join Andy. And she was dead. This had hit Terry harder than anyone else. He had lost a brother and a teammate.  
  
Sie Kensou was in a coma, lying in the hospital. Mary and Terry were incapacitated. And Whip was still recovering from her wounds.  
  
Kasumi and Angel had been visiting everyone, passing on messages and doing their best to cheer everyone up. K' sighed, as he thought about it. Iori and Kyo had settled their differences, but he still had a problem.  
  
Maxima.  
  
Maxima was still out there. He had somehow escaped with Benimaru, and they could cause problems. And he was sure they would. The battle was only half over. 


	9. Revenge

Knock. Knock. Knock.  
  
"Who is it?" K' hollered. "Identify yourself, please."  
  
The door exploded, and a massive fist was withdrawn. Maxima grinned wolfishly. "Long time no see." He joked.  
  
Then he leapt for K', fists outstretched threateningly. K' dodged to the side and drove a flaming fist back at the cyborg, but Maxima was already moving. He somersaulted up the stairs and prepared to jump down and crush K' completely.  
  
And tripped.  
  
It was K''s turn to grin. "I set up a few house traps while you were away," he snarled at his former teammate. "Let's see how you like them."  
  
Maxima roared, and snapped the cord which had tripped him. Too late, K' realised his mistake. And that was all that he had time to realise.  
  
Because Benimaru jumped up behind him, and kicked him in the back of the head with a lightning-charged foot.  
  
K'Dash went out like a candle.  
  
"Let's see what we can do with this tramp," Benimaru said. "I'm gonna kick his arse so hard he won't sit down for a year. Then I'll try gouging his damn eyes out. And then when he's about spent, I think I'll gut him."  
  
Maxima was not listening. He was laughing loudly. Revenge was sweet, but you had to be alive to taste it. And he was. 


	10. Call for Help

Benimaru drummed his fingers on the desktop impatiently. "The thing is, K', that we could let you go, but we don't want to, and won't. Quite the opposite." He leaned forward, and hissed, "There is no ransom."  
  
Pleased with the effect he was having, Benimaru leaned back. K' was obviously angry, but apart from making the water his hands had been dipped in boil, there was nothing he could do.  
  
So Benimaru decided to have a little fun. He reached out, and his hand closed on a iron poker. And he dipped it into the fireplace nearby. This was going to be fun.  
  
*  
  
"I don't believe it." Whip was on the verge of tears. First her own capture, and now this. Her brother was missing. And if anyone had anything to do with it, it would be those two asses. Maxima and Benimaru.  
  
She felt betrayed. Sure, the rest were trying to do all they could. If they could do anything. Iori, Kyo, Kasumi and Angel were the only ones really up and about. And they weren't in the best of conditions either. It was so infuriating! Why couldn't she do anything? She wanted to help, but it was useless. She was still having trouble walking.  
  
And it seemed as if Terry would never come to his senses. The losses he had suffered had driven the champion fighter insane.  
  
Kensou was still unconscious, though he showed signs of improvement. Athena hovered around him protectively all the time.  
  
And still she couldn't do anything. It was breaking her. More than anything, she needed help.  
  
Whip reached out and dialled a familiar number into the phone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"This had better not be a prank call. I'm warning you."  
  
Whip started to sob. "I need you here. now. There's been trouble."  
  
".I'll come right away." 


	11. Suspense and Torture

"That's for ruining our plans!"  
  
"That's for Maxima!"  
  
"That's for King!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"That's for me!"  
  
"And that's for me!"  
  
Benimaru laughed. It was so easy. If only he had thought of this earlier. Being a torturer was a pretty respectable occupation after all. That was a thought.  
  
Oh well. K' was hardly recognizable. There was blood on his face, and almost everywhere else. Benimaru had needed more water, but it was worth every single cent of the water bills.  
  
"Damn it." the man on the ground growled.  
  
So, he was alive. That was just fine. He was certainly more fun that way. You had to be alive to feel pain. So just damn well keep him alive! It was also pretty exhausting. Ha. Ha.  
  
As Benimaru headed off to bed, he heard something her didn't usually hear.  
  
CREAK.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
CREAK.  
  
"Maxima?"  
  
CREAK. "Stop. NO! Get AWAY!" Benimaru howled. "Aaaaaargh!" 


End file.
